Chapter 1
The Last Sunrise
Three hundred years ago…
Vulpix Nina watched the sun creep over the horizon, the sea glinting as the first lights of the day bathed the ocean in front of her. Her hideaway, just under Sharpedo Bluff, provided the perfect refuge from the elements in rough weather, and on fair days like this one, it was a great place to watch the night sky shift to dawn and to watch the Wingull and Pelipper flap about at sea before coming onto the shore.
It was the dawn of a beautiful new day.
Another day in which she still wasn’t a Guild apprentice.
That reminder made Nina’s heart sink like a stone, as her ears flattened and she gazed back at her bed, tempted to rot in it for some time longer.
It’d always felt like such an easy thing to do, to march in and request to join up with them. But the ‘what ifs’ would always sink in. What if she wasn’t good enough? What if Chatot Kiripito saw her floundering? The Guild’s deputy had always been a stern type; if she failed, surely he’d give her an earful. And even if she didn’t fail, what if she got complacent and in over her head? What if she fell to either a Mystery Dungeon or an outlaw’s claw?
The constant fears gripped her, and no matter how hard she tried, courage had always evaded her when she began walking up that hill. But it was if her fears began physically weighing her down for every step she took upward. Chief of which was the fear of making the first step into the unknown, and with that lone thought all of her fears would be overwhelmingly magnified.
The fear of being told she wasn’t good enough.
The fear of being ushered in and being given a challenge she wasn’t prepared for.
The fear of being laughed at for not being good enough. She’d already gotten that from a mean Skuntank who saw her running from the Guild one day.
“You really think a wimp like you has what it takes to be an explorer? Chaw-haw-haw! Dream on, kiddo!”
The snide remarks like that she’d earned from the Guild always being a step too far for her didn’t help one bit. And so every day, Nina would remain where she was: stuck in her status quo of being too weak, too scared, and too inadequate.
… Maybe she was being too harsh on herself. At least she was resourceful enough to get by, doing smaller odd jobs around town and helping ‘mons out with menial tasks. Thankfully the merchants tended to be nice and allowed her to work with them, with the exception of Duskull Banquo, who was a bit of a recluse. No one really knew what to make of him, but at least he wasn’t oppressive? He was just odd.
Nina’s favourite merchant was Matrona, or ‘Auntie Kangaskhan’ as some were fond of calling her, particularly young kids. The wise motherly Pokémon, rarely without her joey, always gave a warm tender smile to the Vulpix anytime she came to her stall, and even when Nina was feeling down, Matrona’s warm personality never failed to make her smile too.
But all the same, she never let her dream to become an explorer die.
Today would be different.
This would be the day she’d go on in and join the Guild.
Yes, she didn’t have her Relic Fragment anymore, and her heart ached for it. But she had to be strong; she couldn’t let that loss weigh her down. Sheer determination would see her through!
She preened a paw through her head fur, and breathed in and out to steady her nerves.
“Come on, Nina, you can do this!”
She attempted to force a confident grin over her face, but a look at the mirror told all; she couldn’t hide the uncertainty weighing her down. A couple more deep breaths were needed before the Vulpix could muster the will to climb the stairs upwards. From there, she made her way into town.
Except things hadn’t been the same recently. It felt as though a sudden tension had come over parts of the town as of late. Suddenly, explorers from Wigglytuff’s Guild were around town less, and the merchants all seemed to be pensive about something, discussing in hushed tones about rumours that escaped from the Guild and the town bulletins.
Nina couldn’t fathom as to what was bothering them. She just knew that it worried her. If the famed explorers of Wigglytuff’s Guild had discovered something ill, and if ‘mons much stronger than her fretted over bad omens…
If something happened, what could weak little her do?
Nina shook her head at those thoughts. She couldn’t baulk now!
And so onward she headed into town, until she turned her head leftwards and froze on the spot.
The first stall to her left – a Kangaskhan’s tent, indicating it to be Matrona’s – was completely empty.
What? Nina’s ears pricked in alarm.
Matrona rarely leaves her stall. She’s always there every morning until she closes! Concern crossed her brow as she looked ahead, across the bridge over the brook where the din of a crowd drifted through the air.
A gathering was up ahead, and among them, she recognised the Kangaskhan’s looming figure above the rest of the townsfolk. She breathed a sigh of relief – at least nothing had happened to Matrona.
Meanwhile, up on a podium addressing them was…a Xatu?
“…It shall be today. In no uncertain terms.”
Yogen? The appraisal merchant? Nina couldn’t help but be more confused. His shop was out of the way and he wasn’t one for communication. He was as odd a bird as Banquo was, and though he wasn’t malevolent, he did give off odd vibes, almost like his guise as a merchant hid something deeper.
One time she went by his place to unlock a locked box she’d been gifted, and he had said something to her before she left.
“Shun the phantom and protect the archer at all costs.”
What did that mean? She’d shrugged it off back then as his odd mutterings and got on with her day.
But now here he was, front and centre, alongside a Torkoal, Wigglytuff and Chatot. Three very famous figures among Treasure Town’s denizens.
Elder Wischard? Guildmaster Makena? Deputy Kiripito? What’s going on here? Nina squeezed her way to the front, trying to get a grasp on what the topic of the day was about. She noticed the varying expressions of worry on the crowd’s faces, and the tension felt thick enough to cut with claws.
“The calamity will be upon us soon. I can feel its presence encroaching, and before long…time will stop in Treasure Town, just as it has elsewhere on this continent.”
Nina’s ears pricked in alarm, and around her, the crowd’s worried clamour escalated to shock.
“Wait, what?!”
“‘Time will stop’?”
“Seems those rumours were true…”
“Gods, I thought they were telling tall tales…”
But Nina wasn’t fully in the loop, and so she caught Makena and Wischard’s eyes and asked them.
“Wh-What’s happening? Is this to do with why everyone’s been so tense recently?”
“Oh, you haven’t heard, young miss?” Wischard looked down at the Vulpix. “In various places around the Grass Continent, time has slowed to a standstill, and all the life has been sucked out of them. Worryingly…they seem to be the same places that house the Time Gears.”
“T-Time Gears?”
Nina had heard about those – legendary artifacts created by the Timekeeper himself to control the flow of time in the world, or so they said.
“But I thought those
kept time stable?” the nearby Ursaring asked, cocking his head.
“W-Well, they should,” Makena spoke up.
Until that day, Nina wasn’t sure if she’d ever seen the normally cheery Guildmaster look so pensive. No, something was really wrong right now. She didn’t know why the others weren’t just being open about it, but if even the happy-go-lucky Guildmaster Makena was troubled by this, then…
“But we cannot find the root cause of the matter,” the Wigglytuff went on. “We had thought a nefarious thief might have done the unthinkable and pilfered a Time Gear for themselves.”
“But in our various expeditions around the continent to figure out the cause, we found that not to be the case. The Time Gears remain undisturbed.” Chatot Kiripito stood on a perch near his Guildmaster, as steely-eyed and serious as ever. “We have everyone on the Guild working double time to figure out where the problem of this stems from…but so far, nothing. Not a shred of a clue.”
Nina’s ears flattened. Even the Wigglytuff Guild couldn’t find anything? The peerless explorers she’d always looked up to had come up short?
How? They always seem to know what they’re doing…But if it goes beyond the Time Gears, if it’s something that’ll overwhelm our world, then…even great heroes like them wouldn’t be able to do anything, would they?
“S-So that means…” The Vulpix began to quiver. “Time will stop here too?”
“I am afraid so,” Yogen replied, closing his eyes. “I do not know if the power is within us to reverse it. Perhaps…hm.”
“Is there truly nothing we can do?” Matrona pleaded, looking between the four. “Please, there must be something! Some way out of this!”
“Yeah! There was a calamity with a meteor over on the Air Continent a while back, but they had heroes that saved the world!” Electivire Hadad, the Link Shop owner, shouted from the rear of the crowd. “We can’t just sit here and call it quits!”
“…Mrngh.” Wischard seemed to flinch. “I have tried to summon all of my wisdom I’ve gained in my long years…but even I cannot think of anything. Curse this memory of mine!” He stamped a foot in mild anger.
Nina could in that moment sense the worry and fear of the townsfolk all around her – people she was well familiar with by this stage. It was a feeling that struck her deep too, especially upon seeing the faces of the leaders before them.
Was there nothing they could do? Truly nothing?
Was she truly not going to be able to become a Guild member in the end?
But before she could think her next thought, Yogen suddenly let out a shrill squawk, making Nina jump in shock.
“Collapse!” he cried out. “It’s upon us! But brace yourself, panic not, for we–”
The Xatu didn’t even get to finish his sentence before the ground began to shake beneath them. Shouts immediately pierced the air, as a panic took hold of the crowd.
“E-Earthquake?!” Nina cried.
“What in blazes?!” Wischard cried. “An earthquake?! Here?!”
“Get everyone to safety!” yelled Matrona. “To higher ground, at once!”
“My dojo!” Marowak Knoch, the dojo master, cried. “It’ll collapse in on itself!”
“My bank!” Banquo wailed. “My dear funds!”
Above the din, Kiripito’s call was shrill and echoed across the square.
“Stay calm! Stay calm!” the Chatot cried to the panicking crowd. “To higher ground! Evacuate orderly!”
But those words seemed to fall on deaf ears – at least, to Nina, who had broken out into rapid breaths as she watched the chaos unfold around her.
Her mind was too panic-stricken to register anything right now.
Earthquakes – they were all too haunting a sensation for her. Memories of a Ninetales’ hurried cries entered her mind – from memories she didn’t ever want to recount again.
“Run, my girl! Go!” a fatherly Ninetales yelled at her, his tails pinned by a large rock.
“But Dad, what about you and Mom?!” Nina pleaded.
“Don’t worry!” Her father shook his head. “Just get yourself and the heirloom to safety!”
She didn’t want to relive that right now, not when the ground shook with a force much greater than the ground back then.
Please. Not again! Not again! I don’t want this, I don’t want this, I don’t want this–!
She bolted, her legs nearly giving out from under her from the quaking as she dashed away from the crowd and the town. The bridge over the brook was splitting apart, but she was able to get over it with only a mild splash of river water on her paws.
Matrona called out to her, but she didn’t make out her words. It was all a jumbled mush amidst the panic that had developed among the townsfolk, Nina brushing past panicking crowds and legs threatened to crush her among a growing stampede.
Nina’s vision blurred as she ran west, towards Sharpedo Bluff. Stalls to her side, including Matrona’s, were splitting and dislodging wood, quickly collapsing, while screams added to the already intense tumult.
This was all a nightmare, it had to be! She just had to wake herself up, and then everything would be alright again.
That was her prevailing thought before an
almighty shockwave suddenly rocked the surroundings.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
It was as if the whole world trembled from it, and
gods was it powerful – enough to halt Nina in her tracks and throw her back.
“Aaagh!” the poor Vulpix cried. She lost her footing and hit the ground with a tumble, landing on the edge of the bluff with her rear legs sticking over the edge.
“No no no no!” She yelped in fright at the lack of ground under her paws, and scrabbled to safety again.
But just as she got to her feet–
BOOOOOOOOM!
Another shockwave. This one threw the Vulpix onto her side, with Nina not having the strength or bulk to stand her ground against it along with the constant shaking. She fell to the ground in a heap, a quivering mess against the shaking ground.
Of course that was how it had to be. Weak, powerless, gripped by her own fears – of course someone like her would have no hope of resisting this calamity.
BOOOOOOOOM!
A third shockwave – one with enough force to throw Nina back and into the air. She landed hard, crying out with pain throbbing at the back of head.
But as she landed, she noticed a most peculiar sight.
In midair, the objects being knocked around by the quake were
actively slowing down as they fell. And these were chunks of rock, heavier than her!
Her breath caught in her throat as she realised what this was.
This was the beginning of time’s collapse. It had now spread to Treasure Town, just as Yogen had predicted.
Everything was moving slower, like someone had cast Trick Room in the vicinity. Except this was no mere illusion cast by a psychic. This was stark, plain reality.
She tried to get onto her feet, but suddenly she noticed the sun right above her, as if it were midday. Nina looked up, dumbfounded at the sight.
Wait, but how? Was it not dawn a moment ago?
And just as she thought that, the sun was visibly descending into the sky west of them. The clouds were also moving a
lot faster than they should’ve been.
Before long, evening had come. Not long after that, and night had fallen. The moon now rose in the sky where the sun had shone brightly only a minute before.
It was a freakish sight watching the cycle of day accelerating before her, and between this and the constant shaking underneath her, Nina could only behold it all in horror.
“Make it stop!” she cried, whimpering with her ears flattened against her head.
This was terrifying, seeing time go haywire and nature unravel in front of her. There was nothing she could do – she just had to sit there and watch it get faster and faster and faster.
Then the clouds suddenly began…moving in the other direction?
And the sun had risen back up!
I-Is time…rewinding?
It was. The evening sun shone brightly, blinding Nina’s vision and forcing her to throw up a paw to block it.
She heard distant cries of panic from the townsfolk at all of this. She felt the same way, only her reactions were one of quiet terror, the Vulpix now a quivering mess at the sight before her.
Then the sun moved back below the horizon, and the darkness of night descended again…
…Only for the sun to rise again in about a minute.
“I-It’s even faster!” Nina wailed. “It’s going out of control!”
The day moved past at a dizzying pace, the sun tearing across the sky before dipping below the horizon again.
Night seemed even shorter this time, with the next dawn approaching in only half a minute. Then morning seemed to only last a few seconds!
All the while, the ground still rumbled beneath her, and Nina crumpled on all fours again. She didn’t have the will to get up and run back to town.
All she could do was watch, transfixed, as time descended into chaos in front of her. It was gut-wrenching to witness, but all the same, she couldn’t tear her eyes away from it.
Another night. Another day. Another night. Another day. It was getting too fast to keep track of! If a clock were here, no doubt its hands would be a blur.
Right as a new night ended and another day dawned–
BOOOOOOOOM!
Another huge shockwave pulsed across the land, one that packed more force than ever. So forceful that Nina could feel the ground below her actively begin to fall apart. She looked down and yelped once she realised what was happening.
“Th-The bluff! It’s collapsing!” The Vulpix panicked, got to her feet and scrabbled to find steady ground. The bluff grew more fractured, and soon the whole mass began tumbling into the sea.
Except…it didn’t reach the water. Nina stopped mid-cry once she realised.
“It’s…slowing?”
Sharpedo Bluff…remained suspended in mid-air.
Everything suddenly slowed. Nina took this chance to leap upwards, back to the cliff edge. If nothing else, at least her movements hadn’t slowed.
Time had stopped accelerating, and was slowing to a crawl. It was now the middle of the night, and Nina couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing.
She could literally feel the effects under her feet. The rocks kicked up by the quake stayed raised in the air, and did not move. Leaves that fell off trees remained suspended mid-fall, and the pleasant sea breeze that always blew over Treasure Town had come to a complete halt.
Even in the dark of night, Nina spotted the world turning grey and lifeless around her. Her pupils dilated and her breathing quickened. It wasn’t just time collapsing, but nature too?
“Wh-Why…Why is it all falling apart like this?”
Right before it did, she caught the glimpse of the sun rising above the mountains to the east. Only for an instant, however, before a fracture suddenly opened in the sky and darkness poured rapidly from it, covering that last glimmer of light.
Tears streamed from Nina’s eyes, watching it all fall to ruin in front of her.
That had been the world’s last sunrise.
That had been the day the light died.
